Drivin’ on 9
Looking out my window sill
Wondering if I want you still
Wondering what’s mine

Under A Rock – from the latest Waxahatchee album “Ivy Tripp”, out now on Wichita Recordings.

I went with my friends Tor and Marianne to see Hello Saferide play live at Skuret last night, with support by Maia Hirasawa. It was a fantastic concert and we had a wonderful time. Since Skuret is such a small place, it was quite intimate and cozy… I hope to see both Maia and Annika again in Oslo soon! Be sure to check out some of their music below.

• Hello Saferide – Valentines’s Day
• Hello Saferide – Highschool Stalker
• Maia Hirasawa – My New Friend
• Maia Hirasawa – Star Again

The music weblog Do Copenhagen has a list of the Top 50 Music Videos of 2005 – plenty of beautiful, creative (and sometimes just weird) video-art there. There’s downloads for every one of them, so this is sure to keep me busy for a long time this evening. It’s good to see a couple of norwegian artists on the list as well – Röyksopp’s ‘What Else Is There’ is definitely one of my favourite tracks of the year.

Aphex’s Rubber Johnny has to be one of the most disturbing music vids I’ve ever seen, but not exactly unexpected fare from him – watch it with the lights off (if you dare)…

Also check out no.23 M83 – Don’t Save Us From the Flames; very poetic and moving.

Last Thursday late Norwegian rock legend Joachim Nielsen aka Jokke would have celebrated his 41st birthday. His death in 2000 was a big loss for the Norwegian rock-community – he was a great song-writer, and one of the few artists who have managed to write good norwegian lyrics that everyone can relate to.

During the years from 1986 to 1999 he released a line of classic rock albums with the bands Valentinerne and later the Tourettes.

His birthday was celebrated with a big tribute concert at Rockefeller and the release of the double-CD tribute ‘Det beste til meg og mine venner – en hyllest til Joachim Nielsen‘, with 50 (!) bands covering his songs. Of course, with that many bands the result is bound to be varied, and not everything has turned out well, a big disappointment is Turbonegro’s unimaginative version of ‘Her Kommer Vinteren’, but all in all it’s well worth the money.

Also, the profits of the release goes to benefit the Rainforest Fund, as wished by Jokke’s family, so you are really supporting a very good cause by buying this CD!

Below are three of the more outstanding tracks on the tribute, and there are plenty more like this!

• Søvnløse Netter – This is one of my favourite Jokke tracks, and a great cover by Rock Metal Soliders, bass-heavy and groovy Metal!
• Alt Kan Repeteres – Rappers Tungtvann with their take on the song, very fresh and original!
• Et Godt Parti – The Launderettes does a classy garage-rock cover of this song.

I went to see Swedish rapper Timbuktu at Rockefeller last night. His live sets are famous for their musical energy and good vibes, and I was not disappointed.

The backing band Damn!, also funked up the show and set it miles apart from a regular Hip-hop concert. It was definitely one of the best concerts I’ve been to, I had a great time, and I recommend to everyone to check them out if they get the chance!

For those missed it here are a couple of tracks from the live album released last year:

• Lobbyn Om Fem (Intro)
• Pendelparanoia

The new album from Scotsmen Teenage Fanclub – entitled Man-Made, is out on May 9th here in Norway, and I’m definitely buying it as soon as it hits the stores. But like the slavering fanboy I am, I’ve already gotten a ‘sneak listen’ to the album, thanks to the wonders of the internet. Here are a couple of the stand-out tracks for your listening pleasure:

• Cells – beautiful uptempo ballad with an acoustic intro.
• Born Under a Good Sign – 60’s psychedelia influenced rocking stomper, with a good grungy guitar jam at the end.

All in all, Man-Made is a pretty good album, although not the greatest they’ve released (that would surely take some doing). Strongly recommended for all fans, others are probably better off getting the great compilation Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six Seconds: A Shortcut to Teenage Fanclub to fully appreciate the magic of The Fannies.

Evan Dando of 90s indie-rock heroes The Lemonheads played yesterday at John Dee, and I went along with Tor to see him. It was a good concert – only Dando himself on stage with a guitar.

He played a set consisting of the good old Lemonheads tunes, a couple from the Baby I’m Bored album, as well as a selection of the Gram Parsons and Big Star covers he does so well.

I had a great time, and people were singing along to the songs, but just sometimes I had a kind of sad feeling that Evan was just another ‘jukebox’ just churning out the hits. I would have liked to hear more new songs (if there are any), and might have preferred a band there like the last time I saw him.

On the other hand, those great indie-pop songs are what everyone (including me) wants to hear so I can’t complain… He’s still an extremely talented songwriter and guitarist and got to show he’s still got what it takes to move an audience.

French musical project Nouvelle Vague takes a selection of New Wave and Punk-Rock classics from the early 1980s, with bands like The Clash and XTC, and gives them a workover in the style of jazzed-up 60s Pop and Bossa Nova. The title is French for New Wave (and Portuguese for Bossa Nova, apparently) and I guess it also refers to the French New Wave film movement of the early sixties.

Surprisingly enough, the result turn out to be very listenable given the sometimes radical style-changes involved. It’s also funny to see how these originally quite angry, noisy, punk rock songs from the Dead Kennedys or Joy Division still sound good in their “easy-listening” versions. Here are a couple of examples, with the originals to compare with:

• Too Drunk To Fuck (Original by Dead Kennedys)
• Love Will Tear Us Apart (Original by Joy Division)